


love the stars, love the moon

by glitterjungwoo



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Idols, Angst, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Jungwoo works at a drag bar, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, cross-dressing, inspired by A Star is Born, johnny is ten's manager, models - jaehyun and winwin, no I can't let go of Rose!Jungwoo, past Ten/Yuta, soloist taeyong, soloist ten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-20 17:56:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16560521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterjungwoo/pseuds/glitterjungwoo
Summary: Everyone at the bar knew him as Rose; his alter ego on stage. His closest friends were the only ones that knew him also as Kim Jungwoo - an aspiring singer that has recently fallen into a rut regarding his future. In the beginning he was hopeful that choosing to pursue his dreams after graduating college would bring him success quickly, however,  after 3 years and still no major moves forward, his motivation was beginning to dwindle.What Jungwoo didn’t know was that down the street, there was a person being driven over to the bar that would change the course of his life permanently. He would make Jungwoo feel like he was on top of the world, he would make Jungwoo do things that would put into perspective just how much he was holding himself back when he thought that he was doing all that he could for his career. They would go through wonderful  times, and also suffer together - believing they were going to lose everything. Jungwoo would feel happiness, love, hope, and freedom. He would come face to face with some of the best things the world could offer, and also with the worst of humanity.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello I'm back with another tenwoo fanfic and this time it's chaptered! I don't know exactly how long it's going to be, it could end up being longer/shorter than I have outlined but I'll have the complete chapter count soon! Also, this is inspired by the movie A Star is Born and for those of you that have seen the movie-no this fanfic will not include the heavy angst. There will be some angst but I promise that no one is going to die or have alcoholism. 
> 
> also! a very very huge thank you to my beta reader lydtograce on AO3!!! they have been so nice and helpful so please go check them out they write amazing stuff too!! 
> 
> if you want to be friends or be updated on when I'll post a new chapter + sneak peeks you can follow me on twitter @jungwoos_strap . You can follow my beta reader @qianhuangs

“Jungwoo you’re on in 30 minutes after this next set, I need you ready in 10 so that you can go over the music settings with Mark.” 

 

“Just let me get this last extension in and I’ll be there, Lucas, tell Mark to get the instrumentals ready while i'm finishing up.”

 

“Alright, Rose, just please make sure you’re there on time. We don’t want a repeat of last week.” 

 

“I killed it regardless, so I’ll be fine, go get your boyfriend ready.”

 

Lucas left the dressing room, Jungwoo fastened the last hair extension to his head and reapplied his lipgloss. Everyone at the bar knew him as Rose; his alter ego on stage. His closest friends were the only ones that knew him also as Kim Jungwoo - an aspiring singer that has recently fallen into a rut regarding his future. In the beginning he was hopeful that choosing to pursue his dreams after graduating college would bring him success quickly, however,  after 3 years and still no major moves forward, his motivation was beginning to dwindle. Jungwoo didn’t want to give up and prove his family right, no, he'd rather have a stagelight fall dead on his head than admit defeat. Although the people in the bar always loved his performances and on the nights he was scheduled to perform the crowd turnout swamped the bar, , there was still so much more that Jungwoo yearned for. The audience at the bar was always super sweet, but he wanted to reach thousands of other people as well. 

 

After giving his outfit of a black flowing  dress that skimmed the floor (and his makeup) another check up, he got up and walked out of the dressing rooms to check up with Mark.

 

He spotted him at his section towards the front; facing the stage balanced in  his boyfriend’s lap and drinking a ginger ale. Lucas has his arms around Mark’s waist and his head leaning over his shoulder. The both of them are sickeningly sweet to look at and are always laughing about something together, no one really understands them but each other. 

 

“Alright Mark I’m all set, is everything good to go?” Jungwoo asks him.

 

“Yeah, I’ve double checked and as long as nothing else happens it should move along smoothly. I don’t want the sound to go out like last time, I nearly lost all my hair from how stressed I was.” he responds.

 

“But everything turned out fine so it’s all good! Let’s focus on the positives!” Lucas encourages  his boyfriend.

 

“Well then I’m positive that I almost lost all my hair on that day.”

 

Lucas kisses him on the cheek and says, “even if you were bald I would still love you babe.”

 

“Alright you two I’m gonna head backstage, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do while I’m gone.” Jungwoo says.

 

“Is there really anything you wouldn’t do though? That’s the real question.”

 

“Watch yourself, Mark Lee,” and with that word of warning, Jungwoo heads towards the back.

 

What Jungwoo didn’t know was that down the street, there was a person being driven over to the bar that would change the course of his life permanently. He would make Jungwoo feel like he was on top of the world, he would make Jungwoo do things that would put into perspective just how much he was holding himself back when he thought that he was doing all that he could for his career. They would go through wonderful  times, and also suffer together - believing they were going to lose everything. Jungwoo would feel happiness, love, hope, and freedom. He would come face to face with some of the best things the world could offer, and also with the worst of humanity. In the end, this person would help him gain his motivation back and give him the sunlight that he needed to grow into the true Rose that he was. 

 

-

 

“Are you sure you want to come here Ten? If you get recognized it’ll only encourage  the rumors even more.” 

 

“No matter what I do, those fucking paps are always going to pull the next ‘is soloist Ten gay?’ article out of their ass because it’s the only thing that’ll get people to read their crap. I’m all set on going here Johnny and you can’t change my mind.” Ten responds.

 

Johnny sighs, “alright then, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. You at least got your disguise ready right?”

 

On cue, Ten pulls on his face mask and his glasses, he then throws his hair up in a hat and zips up his hoodie to look as average as possible. “No one has ever recognized me like this so I think I’ll be good.”

 

“Okay, Just shoot me a text when you’re ready for me to come get you, I’ll be with Jae back at home. He’s been wanting to spend a night in with me for a while.” Johnny says,  a smile on his face at the mention of his husband of 3 years (and counting). 

 

“I’ve told you already that if I ever happen to interrupt your time together you can let me know, I know how to drive and call an uber.” 

 

“And I’ll tell you every time that it’s seriously okay. Jae is just as busy as I am with his modeling and ever since he was featured in your music video he’s been getting even more job offers. Busy is good for us, we’ve been together long enough to respect each other’s careers and appreciate any moment we can spend together.” Johnny says.

 

“God, the day that I find someone like that is the day I fucking shave my head.” 

 

Johnny pulls up in front of the bar and Ten gets out, waving  goodbye at Johnny and quickly making his way in. 

 

He found out about his club through Taeyong; one of his closest friends at the company, of whom he does collaborations with from time to time. While they were hanging out in Ten’s apartment, he had shown him an instagram post that he was tagged in several times by fans of someone that had taken video of a guy doing a cover of one of his older rap songs. Taeyong was really intrigued about the bar and Ten took it upon himself to check it out for the both of them. It had taken him days to convince Johnny to let him go, but ultimately his manager just couldn’t say no to his request. 

 

With the rise to fame also came the increase of aggressive news sites trying to bring down his career. Although Ten knew from a young age that he was 100% not straight, he couldn’t let the whole world know that yet. He knew that he would have the support of his fans and the company, but he didn’t want to be known for his sexuality he wanted to be known for his music and his dedication to his career and his fans. If he outed himself he knew that the mainstream news would just reduce him to a label, so he preferred to stay in the closet. One day, when he was completely established in the industry he would feel comfortable coming out to the public; knowing that he’s had a ton of achievements that would have garnered more attention than him coming out.

 

Although he’s managed to keep quiet, the speculations still come in by the thousands. It doesn’t help him in the slightest that in the years since he’s been active he hasn’t shown interest in the opposite sex or in dating at all for that matter. When questioned about it at interviews he simply answers that he would rather focus on his career at the moment and brushes off further inquiry, but others have taken it upon themselves to overanalyze his responses and behavior. He’s been accused of more things that he can count, and if he were a weaker person it would’ve overwhelmed him; but he has his closest friends and his team by his side to help him along the way.

 

The second he escapes from the cold and enters the bar, he’s hit with the haze of smoke. The bar is a lot busier than he imagined and it takes him a while to find a spot where he isn’t crushed by others. It doesn’t help that he isn’t the tallest person, so he easily gets pushed around by people who either don’t see him or don’t really care. From his view through the entrance, the bar is on the entire right side of the building, there’s several tables that follow after it and it eventually leads to an open space in front of the stage for people to view the performer closer. Ten find’s an open seat at the bar and asks the bartender to surprise him with something good but that isn’t too strong. 

 

As the current act closes up their set, the lights dim and an MC in full drag walks onstage to announce the next performer. 

 

“Alright everyone! Get ready for our next performer, one that you guys are really familiar with by now. We got our special Rose here to perform Dream in a Dream by our fave soloist Ten! I need you all to make some noise for our favorite beauty!”

 

The whole audience went into an uproar, people yelled and cheered so loud that Ten felt like he was going to lose his hearing. He assumed that whoever was going up was a highly anticipated singer and the fact that they were performing one of his songs really piqued his interest.

 

When he saw the person that walked out on stage, his interest only skyrocketed.

 

Although Ten was a bit further away from the stage, he could tell in a heartbeat that the MC wasn’t kidding when they said that they were beautiful. The long black dress and glossy red lips were  eye catching and highly accentuated the person’s features. Now, Ten has been in the music industry and dipped his toes into modeling, but he’s fully convinced that this person up on stage is hands down the most beautiful he’s ever seen. 

 

After the cheering died down, the performer by the name of Rose took the mic and the instrumentals came in. 

 

A few people in the crowd let out some cheers as Rose looked up at smiled at the audience. Ten felt the breath get caught in his throat and hurriedly sipped at the alcohol in his cup to calm himself. 

 

After the intro played out, the beat suddenly slowed down and Ten felt chills run down his back. Then when he heard Rose’s voice for the first time, Ten knew that he was FUCKED fucked.

 

He didn’t know how someone was able to turn his song about a pure love into something so sensual and longing, but Rose did it well. Their soft voice was unlike any he had heard before and  Ten couldn’t get enough of it. As they continued their performance, Rose began to walk closer to the edge of the stage. People in the front reached out to them and they responded with light kisses to their hands and a wink. Rose had the crowd wrapped around their finger and on the edge of their seats at any slight movement they made, and Ten was no exception to this. The performer definitely was experienced in not only the vocals, but also in the performance aspect of it all. With a bit of fine tuning, Rose could make some of the newer artists feel a bit of competition. 

 

The crowd grew increasingly loud as Rose made their way to the side of the stage where there was steps that led down to the main floor. The crowd was packed but they still were able to make a small path for Rose to walk through smoothly. Their voice tapered out as the instrumental in the song began and Rose had made their way to the seating area of the club. With the help of someone at one of the tables, Rose was lifted up onto the table, plucked a drink from someone’s hands, and took a sip. The crowd went absolutely wild, Ten felt his heart leap into his throat when he saw Rose get off of said table and make their way towards the bar. It was the bartender this time that helped them up. Their dress brushed against the counter as they slowly walked along the bar. As the instrumental was coming to a close, Rose walked closer to where Ten was sitting. After a few seconds, he realized why they were coming his direction; the seat next to him was the only open one along the whole bar and Ten was about to be graced with close proximity to  an angel. 

 

Rose lowered themselves to sit on the edge of the counter, Ten could see the heels peeking out from their long dress and he felt that he wouldn’t mind being stepped on by them. The vocals of the song began again and Rose started to sing once more. For Ten, hearing their voice up close felt like a religious experience. Everyone in the club looked up at Rose with such awe and adoration in their eyes, hanging off of every word they sang. They turned to look at their surroundings and when Rose’s eyes met Ten’s, he felt as if he had been dunked underwater. The noises and the music felt far away from him, everything was out of focus except for Rose. He could see their lips moving but Ten’s mind couldn’t process anything else that was going on. When Rose used a finger to lift up Ten’s chin so that they could lean in closer, he willingly let himself be led by them. Rose could’ve told Ten to rob a bank with a toy gun and he wouldn’t even have questioned it. Their eyes, Ten couldn’t tell if they were wearing contacts or not but the pretty bluish green color gave Rose a look of innocence, even though their performance was anything but that. 

 

The beautiful performer maintained close proximity and eye contact with Ten, the crowd was getting  even wilder and there were even faint chants of people telling them to kiss. When the last verse was drawing  to a close, Rose jumped off of the counter and made their way back to the stage, leaving Ten rendered speechless and unable to move. His mind was still trying to catch up and process  what had just happened. The bartender saw Ten in his state of shock and simply handed him another drink, saying, “you’re not the first to be chosen by our Rose, any man or woman that they touch ends up kind of like you right now.”

 

Ten nods his head and slowly sips at the drink, the performance comes to a close with Rose blowing the audience a kiss before ultimately disappearing behind the curtain. 

 

He looks back up at the bartender, who is cleaning off some of the glasses that have gathered up on the counter.

 

Ten asks him, “who is Rose?”

 

The bartender looks at him with a bit of pity and responds, “I’m afraid that I’m sworn to secrecy by them. Rose thinks there’s no point in giving up too much about themselves to people who will only show up a few times before ultimately never showing up again. He’s been hurt before, so this is just a way to protect themselves.”

 

“So Rose is a guy, as I had predicted.” Ten says.

 

The bartender raises a brow at his response, “is that a problem with you?”

 

“With the way I was when he was near me, and with me telling you that I had guessed that Rose really was a guy, I think you can answer that question for yourself.” Ten replies.

 

The bartender replies, “that’s fair. I just have to do some precaution. Some guys don’t take to it to well when they find out that Rose is actually a guy. I’ve had to get the security to permanently ban them for their safety.”

 

Ten winces, he doesn’t want to imagine Rose being hurt by some guy - all due to fragile masculinity, “god, I could never hurt him. I don’t see why anyone would want to hurt someone so… fascinating.”

 

“I feel like this isn’t going to be the last time I see you. Whether you’re going to stick around for the long run is beyond me but you’re not as pushy as other people have been so I think I can trust you a bit. My name’s Doyoung by the way, I’ve been friends with Rose for years so I hope you can understand why I’m so protective over him.”

 

“Nice to meet you Doyoung. I’ve got to get going now but I think I’m for sure going to be back. I don’t think I’ll be able to just live off of seeing Rose just once or twice…” Ten says.

 

“And I’ll be here, and so will Rose. If you want to make sure you’ll see him make sure to come on Friday’s, he always performs on Friday’s.” Doyoung says to him.

 

“Thank you, I’ll see you next Friday then. Goodbye Doyoung.”

 

“Goodbye stranger!”

 

-

 

Ten walks out of the bar and the cold air makes him begin to shiver. The streets are a lot emptier now than they were when he first walked in, making it easier for him to spot Jaehyun’s car when he came to pick him up. He had sent him a text a few minutes ago telling him that he was ready to head back home, so it would only be a little bit longer before he was picked up. Ten couldn’t wait to tell Johnny about Rose, he knew that he was going to be just as fascinated as he was. 

 

His conversation with Doyoung really struck a chord in him. The way that Rose didn’t want to reveal his true self, his wariness on trusting people to really love him, the need to always keep everything about their personal lives a mystery-it was something that Ten knew all too well. It was difficult finding people that he could trust in the entertainment industry and it was so easy to get caught up in a terrible situation for trusting the wrong people. Ten has been trained through his years of experience to spot a scammer or someone who’s just trying to sell out your private info, he couldn’t explain exactly what it was that made them stand out but he just knew that he would always get a weird feeling around them. They always wanted to get too personal too quick, wanted to visit his home right away, and asked extremely invasive questions - all with a sickly sweet smile. When you don’t give them what they want, the immediately throw you aside and move on to the next famous person, the cycle of a social climber. 

 

Ten wanted to show Rose that he knew how he felt, he knew how lonely it got sometimes to feel like you can't trust anyone, maybe they could become close friends who confide in each other, maybe they could become something more if he let him. 

 

He was brought out of his thought bubble when Johnny pulled up in front of him. Ten quickly climbed into the passenger side and shut the door behind him, putting his hands in front of the air vents to warm up his hands with the hot air coming through. 

 

“So how was it?” Johnny asks him after Ten gets his seatbelt on.

 

Ten replies, “ I think I fell in love.” 

 

Johnny chokes out a laugh, “don’t joke around like that man, I almost believed you for a second.”

 

“Okay maybe it isn’t love but...Johnny this performer at the bar fucking took my breath away. His stage name is Rose and he performs in full cross dress but if I didn’t know any better I would’ve been completely convinced that he was actually a girl. Not only that, but his voice, oh my god. He performed one of my songs tonight, Dream in a Dream, and he made it sound like the sexiest thing on Earth. I don’t know who he is, but if he’s an angel I want him to show me what heaven is like, and if he’s a demon then I don’t want to be saved.” Ten says.

 

“Oh wow okay, I was not expecting a whole monologue at nearly 1 AM. And you judge me for getting sappy about my husband while you’re over here saying such things about a stranger.” Johnny replies.

 

“Well you’re going to have to get used to it because I’m planning on going again next Friday.” 

 

Johnny gives him a worried look, “Are you sure you want to go again? Remember what I said about keeping your real identity hidden.”

 

Ten waves it off, “don’t worry about that, no one recognized me today and I was literally put on the spot by Rose. I doubt anyone will end up recognizing just as long as I’m not going in every day. I’ll just be going in on Friday nights when I know I’m not busy.”

 

“Well what are you going to do when your comeback drops within the next two months?.” Johnny asks.

 

“I’ll worry about that when the time comes. Right now I just want to go to sleep because I’m exhausted and Winwin wants to go get lunch with me tomorrow . You won’t have to drive me though, he’s got it covered.” Ten says.

 

“Alright then, but if you end up needing me don’t hesitate to call okay?” 

 

“Okay dad calm down now.”

 

Johnny pulls up into the lot of Ten’s apartment complex and  escorts him through the front door until he’s safely in the elevator that’ll lead him up to his place. 

 

Once Ten is inside, he doesn’t even bother with taking off his clothes, he just flops onto his bed and knocks out within minutes.

 

-

 

Across the city, back at the bar, Jungwoo is taking off his makeup and hair extensions for the day. He can see Doyoung walk in through the door behind him through the vanity mirror. 

 

“Are we going to talk about what you did during your set or…?” 

 

Jungwoo looks at him through the mirror, “there’s nothing to talk about. I give the audience what they want, do something to rile them up, and then I leave. I get to have fun acting a character and the people love it.”

 

“Did you forget that I was at the bar and saw the interaction up close? I actually had a good conversation with that guy after you were done. He was in a bit of shock, newbie is written all over his face. He wasn’t so bad, just never told me his name.” Doyoung tell him.

 

“And we don’t need to know his name. You shouldn’t encourage him to come, I’ll only break his heart when he sees the real me and realizes that I’m not everything he fantasizes about.” 

 

Doyoung sighs, “Jungwoo...you can’t live like this forever. Yeah it’s keeping you safe but you aren’t really living. Don’t you want to fall in love with someone one day? Have a healthy relationship? Get laid at least?”

 

“Look Doyoung, he’s probably not even going to come back again. He may have said that he is but you and I both know that he isn’t. I don’t want to get my hopes up and break my own heart.” Jungwoo says, grabbing a makeup wipe to rub off his lipstick.

 

“Alright then, but this conversation isn’t over. Do you want to spend the night or are you just going to drive home after you're  done?” he asks him.

 

“I think I should just sleep. If I come over we’re going to stay up all night watching movies and I should start resting properly,” Jungwoo responds.

 

“That’s true, just make sure to not take too long or else Lucas is going to accidentally lock you in here again!”

 

“That was one time Doyoung!”

 

Before Jungwoo could throw his heel at him, Doyoung ran out the door and left him to finish cleaning up so he could go home. All Jungwoo wanted to do was get home and take a nice hot shower. Although he was used to wearing heels, that didn’t mean that his feet didn’t hurt by the end of the night. 

 

After his face is completely bare of makeup and his hair is back to normal, he changes back into his casual clothes and gathers his things so that he can walk out the back door. 

 

On his drive home, Jungwoo thinks about the guy he interacted with at the bar. Although he couldn’t see his face too clearly as it was covered with a face mask, nothing could hide the look in his eyes when he was face to face with him. If Jungwoo was just a bit weaker, he would’ve fallen in love at first sight; he knew better than to get caught up in a fantasy. He didn’t need to do this to himself again. After the amount of heartbreaks he has gone through in his life, Jungwoo just finally accepted that he wasn’t meant for some normal, domestic love life. All he could do was have fun as his character that he built up for a few hours and then get back to his quiet life during the day. There’s just always been something missing, Jungwoo feels like there’s so much more that he’s supposed to be doing but he’s at his wits end. He could only keep holding on for so long.

 

Jungwoo continues his drive, thinking of the “what ifs” and trying to keep himself steady. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, Ten, what exactly is your plan here?” he finally asks.
> 
> Ten replies, “well I plan to visit again this coming Friday. I want to see them more and maybe potentially get to know them.”
> 
> “I understand that much, but...what exactly is your purpose for doing this? You haven’t even spoken a word to this person and you’re already so smitten.” 
> 
> Ten considers this . What was his purpose? Ten didn’t really know how to pinpoint it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for taking so long on chapter 2 :( it ended up being a lot longer than the last chapter and i even had to cut this off or else it wouldve been 20 pages long. I also had thanksgiving break and was with my family a lot + working long hours. 
> 
> anyways i hope you guys like this chapter! please let me know what you think in the comments i highly appreciate feedback! 
> 
> big thanks to my beta reader (lydtograce) once again for being so helpful and kind!

Ten woke up the next morning without the slightest hint of a hangover, not like he had drank much the night before anyway. It was nearly 11 and Ten had agreed to meet with Sicheng at around 2 in the afternoon;  he needed to get up soon if he wanted to be a responsible adult and not be rushing out the door last minute.

 

And so, he fell back asleep.

 

He would’ve stayed asleep for much longer if Johnny hadn’t called him about 45 minutes later, forcing him to - while grumbling - reach out for his phone. He had a specific ringtone for his manager and he knew if he didn’t answer Johnny would scold him for it later.

 

Grasping at the device, he mumbled sleepily, “What do you want so early in the morning?”

 

“Ten, it’s almost midday. Get your ass up. Aren’t you supposed to meet up with Sicheng today?”

 

“Yeah, and what about it? I was planning to get up later. I’ll  be on time anyways. Also, not to be rude, but is there something going on that you needed to call me for?” Ten asks.

 

“Oh, yeah, I just got out of a meeting and I don’t know if you’ll like what I’m about to tell you.”

 

Ten sighed, “they’re pushing back my comeback aren’t they?”

 

“Well...yeah, they are. They want to release Haechan’s first so he can do more of a summer concept since it’ll be out by late July. Yours would follow after in the fall. Personally I feel that this time period fits better with your concept and it’ll yield more sales, which is why I felt that it was a better idea for us.” Johnny explains to him.

 

“That’s true... If you trust their decision then I’m all for it. It gives me more time to prepare anyways, just in case I want to change around a few things.”

 

“Alright, that’s all I really needed to inform you about. You better get your ass out of bed now so you won’t be late.”

 

“Fine. See you soon.” 

 

“Goodbye Ten.”

 

The call ends and Ten stretches his arms out. When he gets out of bed he realizes that he never changed out of his clothes from the night before and decides that it’s best he take a shower. Sicheng was a tad maternal with him and he would definitely notice if he hadn’t properly cleaned up.

 

After his shower, Ten quickly gets dressed and towel dries his hair. Since he was going out to lunch with Sicheng, he wanted to dress in a way that wouldn’t bring attention to himself. All he wanted was to have a peaceful lunch without getting mobbed. It had happened in the past, and although he really loved his fans and didn’t mind doing interviews, he would rather have it occur on his own terms, as opposed to in the spur of the moment. The lack of privacy was hard, but over the years it was something that Ten just had to get used to- especially if he was to survive in the industry. 

 

After getting himself ready to go out, he observes that he still has about an hour to kill before he having to leave, and decides to see if Taeyong is free to talk for a bit. He’d recently had his comeback and was extremely busy with promotions, interviews, and appearances on different idol shows; he and Ten had rarely spoken to each other the past few weeks. Regardless of his packed schedule, Taeyong always made sure to call in once in a while to update Ten on anything, or to just let him know that he was okay. The both of them had debuted at nearly the same time and were really young - they grew up together and confided in each other when things got difficult or the homesickness got to be too much. Although the media tried to pit them against each others as rivals, they would openly express their support for one another anytime the question was brought up. In this industry that often made people feel alone, they both knew that they needed each other in order to stay afloat. 

 

Ten dialed Taeyong’s number and, after a few rings, he picked up.

 

Taeyong’s cheerful voice comes through the phone, “Hi Ten! You called me at the right time, I just got on a break from this photoshoot I’m doing. What are you up to?” 

 

“Oh, I’m just calling to see how you were doing, I’m meeting up with Sicheng in about an hour, and I decided to call you. I know you’ve been really busy... I wanted to check up on you.” Ten replies.

 

“Awww, Tennie, I’m fine! Don’t worry. I’m doing my best to get enough hours of sleep while promoting but it’s been a struggle... the company has me doing more promotional activities than before.” 

 

“You need to prioritize your health more, we both know you’ve always had trouble with getting enough sleep since you tend to overwork yourself.”

 

“I know, I know. I really am taking better care of myself this time. I promise it won’t get to the point where I pass out on stage.” Taeyong comforts Ten.

 

“Alright then, I just wanted to be sure. Also! I checked out the bar you showed me and the performers there are  _ extremely _ talented. There’s one in particular that just really caught my attention, too...” Ten trails off.

 

Taeyong’s tone is excited, when he next speaks: “Oh, really? Did you see the rapper I showed you?”

 

“Well, no, but I saw someone else the night I went in. This guy in full drag performed one of my songs and we even had a moment while they were performing and, well, you know…”

 

“Oh my god, you guys hooked up.” Taeyong finishes.

 

Ten replies, nearly choking on his own spit, “No! I swear we didn’t. I didn’t even take my face mask off the whole night other than to take sips of my drink, but they just singled me out and my brain turned to mush. They’re really good at singing and performing though, they were able to put so much sensual energy into Dream in a Dream without making it too raunchy and I have no idea how they pulled it off so well.”

 

“Be careful, it kinda sounds like you got a crush on this guy.”

 

“Maybe I do, but I’m doing my best to keep myself hidden until I feel comfortable revealing myself to them. Obviously they know of me since they performed my song so I want to be even more careful. I do want to give them a sign that I’m interested in them though. I don’t want it to seem like I’m just messing around with them.” Ten says.

 

“Why don’t you leave a gift for them? It doesn’t have to be too extravagant but at least a little something to let them know that you’re interested in them. You have more experience than me in dating so I have no idea why you’re trusting me to know what to do.” Taeyong says.

 

“I hardly have any more experience than you do, and I’ll think about a gift to give them. I’ll ask Sicheng for some ideas when I go see him in a bit.” 

 

“Okay, I’ll let you go now since my break is about to end soon. I still have a couple more shots to take, I’ll let you see the previews as soon as I can. Tell Sicheng I said hi and that I miss him a lot!” Taeyong tells him.

 

“Don’t worry I definitely will. He’ll probably try to call you soon to check up on you, so look out for that.” Ten says.

 

They say their goodbyes and Ten hangs up the phone. He texts Johnny that he’s ready to go meet up with Sicheng and waits for him to pick him up. They had agreed on going to a fast food place since Sicheng insisted that they both needed to treat themselves every once in a while, which Ten wasn’t going to disagree with. Although Sichen was a model and had to stick to strict diets, he always found a way to cheat out of it. He was calm and cute but Ten knew that he had an edge to him that would make even the bravest fear him sometimes. 

 

He hears Johnny honk the car horn outside and he gathers up his things, making his way out of the apartment building. He always told his manager that he could just come up and knock, to which Johnny always tells him that the extra walking is absolutely unnecessary when what he does currently works just fine. He nods his head at the security guards by the door and they open the door for him as he walks out. Ten walks over to Johnny’s car and opens up the passenger side door.

 

“I’m surprised to see that you actually got ready on time.” Johnny states, brow arched. Ten scowls,“Well, I mean,  _ someone  _ did call me super early in the morning and then I couldn’t fall back to sleep so I had no choice but to stay awake and get ready,”

 

“It was nearly noon! If it weren’t for me you would be running late!”

 

“Okay, yeah. Just take me to the same place as always, I don’t want to keep Sicheng waiting.”

 

Johnny turns up his music and begins to drive in the direction of the fast food restaurant. Ten texts Sicheng to let him know that he’s on his way, and if he happens to get there earlier than him then he should go on and order first. He knew that the model tended to get impatient easier when he was hungry and he definitely did not want to face the wrath of a hungry Sicheng, once of that was enough for Ten. A few minutes into the car ride, Jaehyun called and through the bluetooth of the car both Johnny and Ten engaged in conversation with him. Although Jaehyun was relatively busy as a model, especially now with the amount of summer collections he’s apart of, he always makes time to at least check up on Johnny. He tells them about a new photographer that was working on the shoot and he could tell how nervous he was. The poor kid nearly dropped his camera - worth thousands - onto the floor and Jaehyun had been the one to call for a break so he could speak with the nervous boy. Ten knew that Jaehyun was an extremely kind person and he expected nothing less of him. He told him that the young photographer was a boy named Renjun who was on an internship, and that he’d had comforted him by giving him some snacks and telling him that he wouldn’t be there if he wasn’t talented and to not be scared of him or anyone at the shoot. After the short break, he’d noticed that Renjun was steadier and they were now in the process of doing the finishing touches on the pictures.

 

When Johnny pulls into the parking lot of the fast food place, he’s still on the phone with Jaehyun, and so Ten quietly bids them goodbye and informs Johnny that Sicheng will be taking him home so he doesn’t have to wait up on him. Johnny waves him goodbye and Ten opens the car door and walks out. Although it was just noon, Ten could already feel the summer heat;wearing a black T-shirt and black skinny jeans was probably not the best idea, but Ten was also the type of person to wear a buttoned up shirt wide open at the chest during the winter. Upon entrance to the restaurant, he spied Sicheng sitting towards the back. Although there were a lot of people waiting for their orders, none of the tables were taken up. At around this time people tend to prefer to take their orders to go instead of sitting in, which was perfect for the inconspicuous duo - they would be able to have a proper conversation without having to yell over the noise. His friend was already sipping on a soda, probably coke, when Ten took his seat - andthere was an empty cup on the table. Ten pointed to it, head inclined.

 

“Oh! I already ordered for the both of us, I got you your usual and extra french fries for us. I didn’t choose your drink though, you always get something different every time we come here.” Sicheng explained.

 

“Wow, Sichengie, you’re being so generous today. What’s the special occasion?

 

“Well I talked to Taeyong earlier and he said that you have something interesting to tell me so…”

 

Ten gasped, “So you’re using bribery on me? I can not believe you!”

 

“Okay! I guess you don’t want your food then! I’ll just eat it myself!”

 

“You absolute Scorpio! I’m going to go fill up my cup and come back with ketchup packets to throw at you.” Ten says.

 

“Throw ketchup at me and I’ll tell Taeyong that you got your nipple pierced without him.” Sicheng retorts, biting back a smile.

 

“Fine!”

 

-

 

After the both of them settled down (thankfully with not ketchup packets thrown), the calling of their number coaxed Sicheng to stand and get their food. Ten took a large sip from his Sprite while he sorted through his messages. Johnny had sent him a picture of his and Jaehyun’s “child” (also known as their calico cat Lily that they took in after finding on the street), the picture showed Lily asleep and curled into herself like a cinnamon roll. He replied with a zoomed in picture of Sicheng walking over with their food before setting his phone down. The smell of the greasy food spiked Ten’s hunger and he was 2 seconds away from stuffing his face. As promised, Sicheng did get the extra fries and although the both of them liked to indulge in their cravings, Ten was worried that they wouldn’t be able to finish it all.

 

Sitting and handing Ten his food, Sicheng explains that, “this one’s yours, I made sure to tell them to not put mustard on it.”

 

“Thanks. Are you sure we’re gonna finish all this food?” Ten asks.

 

“Don’t doubt my abilities! I know we’ll be able to finish it,” he responds.

 

They fall into a comfortable silence while they’re working on their burgers, they don’t usually like to talk in between bites. They’d rather save that for when they were poking through their fries. By the time that they were done with their burgers, the restaurant had emptied out a bit;  the lunch rush had ended leaving just a few stragglers waiting at the tables towards the front.

 

Sicheng always finished first, and today was no exception. He was wiping at his mouth with a napkin and once he was done he looked across at the other,, “Sooo...what did Taeyong mean by you needing to tell me something important?”

 

“Come on Sicheng, at least wait until I finish, you know I can’t eat as fast as you do,” Ten whines.

 

“Nope! I can’t wait any longer the anticipation will kill me.”

 

Ten responds with a blunt, “then perish.” Such earned him a straw wrapper to the face, and a now pouty Sicheng. Ten just laughed and took his last bite of his burger before grabbing a napkin and wiping his hands clean.

 

“Alright, let me figure out where I can start this story.” Ten finally says.

 

Sicheng listens intently as Ten tells him all about the instagram post Taeyong was tagged in that led to him visiting the bar last night. He describes in very fine detail Rose’s performance and their interaction at the bar, and ends his story with his conversation with Doyoung the bartender. When Sicheng stays quiet for a bit after Ten finishes his story, he gets a bit worried. His friend was never this quiet after a story; always quick to comment.

 

“So, Ten, what exactly is your plan here?” he finally asks.

 

Ten replies, “well I plan to visit again this coming Friday. I want to see them more and maybe potentially get to know them.”

 

“I understand that much, but...what exactly is your purpose for doing this? You haven’t even spoken a word to this person and you’re already so smitten.” 

 

Ten considers this . What  _ was  _ his purpose? Ten didn’t really know how to pinpoint it. 

 

“I don’t know exactly what my purpose is here yet, but I just know that I have to see them again. I won’t be able to get rid of this feeling of yearning until I do. Someone as beautiful and talented as him is really hard to forget,” Ten says.

 

“Well before you get to speak face to face with this person, I would advise you to have your feelings figured out completely. To me, it sounds like you’ve already developed feelings for this person and I want you to be careful and smart about the decisions you make. I don’t want you to hurt yourself or this other person. From what his friend, the bartender right?” Ten nods in affirmation, “From what he told you, it sounds like this person is very sensitive and doesn’t play around with love. The both of you appear to be similar in that aspect and I want you to be completely serious about this.”

 

Sicheng’s motherly side always jumped out when it came to Ten or the rest of their friends. They all had taken good care of Sicheng when he had made the move from China to Korea, Jaehyun had been the first to meet him during a photoshoot and they both became close friends quickly. They all loved each other like a family and Sicheng was very protective of them.

 

“I promise that I’m taking this seriously. I know that you’re more wary of me dating again after what happened with Yuta, but I promise you that I’m fine. It’s been years and although we ended on really bad terms, I know that I can’t let that keep me from meeting someone new.” Ten comforts his friend.

 

He can see Sicheng frown at the mention of Yuta. When Ten started dating him 3 years ago, the other made it known that he did not like him and had a funny feeling about the way he was overly friendly with him. He loved Ten though, so although he didn’t like Yuta he supported his friend and would offer advice when needed. When he opened his front door to Ten shivering in the cold and tears streaming down his face it took everything he had in himself to not hunt Yuta down and slap him across the face. Ten had walked into his apartment to find Yuta in his bed, still in a post sex daze, and another man in his shower. He was too shocked to do anything but to simply pack enough things for an overnight stay and walk right out. During this time, Ten was at the busiest he had ever been in his career, so he could see why someone would get tired; but it still hurt a lot to be cheated on. The next day, Ten had told Yuta to pack up all his things and leave no trace of himself at his apartment. Since then, the only interactions they have with each other are bitter looks when they happen to run into each other at the company. 

 

“Okay, but just promise me that you’ll tell me if anything goes bad? I’ll always be here for you. If you need help with flirting, then I can help with that too. Knowing you, you’re probably going to let some crazy shit come out of your mouth.”

 

“I’m going to ignore the fact you just dragged me and take you up on that advice. I’m planning on sending him small gifts to establish a type of connection between us. I was even going to add notes, they may not write back to me but at least they’ll know that I want to talk with them.” Ten tells Sicheng.

 

“Why not start simple with a bouquet of flowers? You can never go wrong with that. Just make sure you get the right type of flower and arrangement, you don’t want to accidentally offend them.” 

 

“Oh don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten those four hours that we spent looking up flower language at around 2 AM.” 

 

Sicheng giggles, “I told you it would be useful! Now, can we please dig into these fries before they get cold?”

 

-

 

Ten’s week went by with no new developments. He spent most of his time looking over the songs he had planned to put on his next album and decided that he wanted to rewrite a few,  even wanting to change the title song into a duet. By fall, Taeyong wouldn’t be as busy and they could even promote together. He made note to contact him about it next week once he had the song rearranged. 

 

It was now Friday night, and Ten was being driven back to the club by Johnny. The whole scene was similar to last week’s, except this time Ten had a bouquet of roses in his lap. He had asked the florist for 6 pink roses with the thorns removed. Ten pretended that he didn’t see the way the florist smirked at him, and payed for the flowers. He also made sure to leave a generous tip before leaving. 

 

Johnny had teased him about how excited he looked to be going back, but he was far too happy to bite back. He had gone to a craft store and bought stationary so that he could attach a note to the bouquet, of which his manager and friend had pestered him to show, but Ten had tied it shut with ribbon and opening it would tear the paper. He hoped that Rose would appreciate the gift and read the note, but he knew that it was all up to them on whether or not they wanted to reciprocate. If Rose ever told Doyoung that he didn’t want to receive gifts anymore, he’d would respect their wishes and let them be. Ten hoped that his feelings were somewhat reciprocated. 

 

Once Johnny pulls up in front of the club, he waves Ten off with a smirk and a reminder to be careful about his identity. Ten had dressed in a pair of navy over the knee shorts with a simple white T-shirt. His hat covered his hair and he was in specks paired with a face mask. He wanted to dress as average as possible with no type of name brands showing so that it wouldn’t draw attention to himself. Something as simple as a Balenciaga label could draw eyes towards him, and that’s definitely something that Ten didn’t want. 

 

When he makes his way into the club, roses in hand, he sees the stage being broken down and prepared for the next performer. He spots an empty seat at the bar and makes his way down. Doyoung recognizes him and brings over a soda for him. 

 

“Well, I didn’t think you would actually come back,” he says to Ten.

 

“I said I was going to come, I don’t just talk out of my ass you know.”

 

Doyoung seems satisfied with the response, “fair enough, you came just in time too. Rose is about to start in about 20 minutes. They’re performing a song that’s been highly requested by fans.”

 

Ten asks, “which one?” to which Doyoung just smirks and tells him that it’s a surprise. 

 

Doyoung notices the bouquet of roses and raises an eyebrow at him, “I know I do my job well but I usually take tips in cash not in flowers.”

 

Ten laughs, “very funny, these aren’t for you. I was wondering if you could take these to Rose. I don’t want to give it to him in person just yet in case he doesn’t actually want the gift. I don’t want him to feel pressured to accept something he doesn’t want, especially with an audience.” 

 

“And what if I told you that I didn’t want to? What would you do then?”

 

Ten chokes and stutters in his reply, “well then, I guess I would just put these in my house somewhere. I can’t just throw these out.”

 

Doyoung let out a loud laugh, “Oh my God, I’m just messing with you! You’re so funny. Don’t worry, I’ll take them to him right now. You’re the first person who’s ever left him gifts you know?”

 

Before Ten could respond, Doyoung had walked off and made his way towards the back. Ten was guessing that the dressing rooms were located there. He sat at the bar nervously waiting for Doyoung to come back, Ten hoped that Rose liked the flowers even if it was a bit cliche. 

 

-

 

Jungwoo was baking his under-eye concealer when he heard a knock on his dressing room door.

 

“Come in it’s open!”

 

He sees Doyoung walk in through the reflection of the mirror and he sees the bouquet of roses in his hand.

 

“Oh, wow, who brought those in for you Doyoung?” Jungwoo asks.

 

He replies, sly smile apparent on his features, “oh these aren’t for me, they’re from the guy you made fall for you last Friday. He came in today with these roses and told me to give them to you for him. He says he doesn’t want you to feel pressured to accept them and you are free to return them.”

 

“It isn’t funny to lie about things like that.” Jungwoo’s tone is stern, slightly bitter, and the bartender holds up in hands (and the bouquet) in defense. “I’m not lying! I could literally take you out to where he’s sitting at the bar. He came in and handed the flowers to me so I could deliver them to you.” Doyoung says to him.

 

Jungwoo takes the roses from Doyoung’s hands and he inspects them.

 

_ 6 roses...infatuation… _

 

_ The thorns were removed...love at first sight… _

 

He then spots the note thats tied around a rose stem. Jungwoo rips it open and reads what is written inside.

 

_ No matter how many roses I’ll see in my lifetime, none of them will ever be as beautiful and fascinating as you. Will you let me in or will you prick me away with your thorns? - X _

 

Jungwoo gently places the note on his vanity and starts taking the roses out of the bouquet. Now, he’s been told a few cliche things in his life, most of them making him cringe and wish that the floor would swallow him up. However, something about this note knocked the air out of hin. It’s as if they were already prepared for every single defense mechanism Jungwoo would use in order to protect himself from trusting someone knew and letting himself fall in love. This person could see right through him and it made Jungwoo feel naked, vulnerable. He felt the need to regain some bit of control back.

 

“Can you pass me one of those headbands that are on the table by the door?” he asks.

 

Once Doyoung spots them, he quickly hands over a simple, thin black headband. Jungwoo then takes the roses and snaps the stems shorter so that he can secure them properly to the band. Within a few minutes, Jungwoo has made himself a delicate rose crown. He hopes that none of them fall out during his performance, Jungwoo would’ve hot glued them down but he simply didn’t have the time - he was already due to go and check that the sound was set with Mark in about 5 minutes. 

 

He turns to Doyoung and says, “go ahead and tell him that I’ll be out soon, and that I have a special surprise for him planned during the performance.”

 

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Doyoung replies. Jungwoo waves him off and he leaves to go deliver the message.

 

Jungwoo set the crown on his head and touched up his highlight. The fact that his pursuer brought him roses was extremely convenient since it fit well with the theme of his performance. For weeks, some of his most loyal regulars had been begging him to perform a Lana Del Rey song; and Jungwoo was finally here to deliver. He hoped that his special customer would enjoy the performance, Jungwoo was ready to do whatever it would take to get him just as love drunk as the week before. 

 

With one last inspection of his performance outfit, Jungwoo put on his heels and made his way to the sound box with Mark.

 

-

 

Ten looks up when he sees Doyoung come back with a smirk on his face and hands empty of the roses, his palms felt sweaty from how nervous he was about Rose’s reaction to the gift.

 

“Alright mystery boy, our Rose here really liked the gift. They didn’t believe it was actually for them at first but then they read the note you left and well, that’s what had convinced him that I wasn’t playing a joke on him.” he says to Ten.

 

Ten lets out a sigh of relief, “I’m glad they liked it, did they mention anything else about it? Was there something they didn't like? Was the note too much?”

 

The lights begin to dim, signaling the beginning of Rose’s performance.

 

Doyoung pats Ten’s shoulder and simply says, “get ready, because Rose told me that they had something special planned just for you.”

 

Ten tried to get a response out, but someone further along the bar signals Doyoung for a drink and he runs off. It leaves Ten with no other choice but to sit and wait to see what the surprise could be, with how Doyoung was acting about it he knew that it couldn’t be good for his heart. 

 

When the lights come back on again, there’s a red tint all across the bar with the stage, and a spotlight set on the center of the stage. The lights are stunning, it gives a nice atmosphere for the performance;  that’s not what leaves Ten with his breath caught in his throat. His eyes are set on Rose, standing there in front of the mic in a long dress covered in silver sequins. Any kind of movement they made would make it look like the dress was sparkling. Their hair was a lot longer than the last performance, and the makeup was more dramatic; cherry red lips and a sparkly smokey eyeshadow on their eyes. Then, Ten spots on the top of Rose’s head, a crown of roses. It takes a few minutes for Ten to process that those are  _ his _ roses, that  _ he _ gave to them,  _ his _ roses that have now been turned into part of their performance outfit and Ten has to fight the urge to go up there and kiss Rose senseless. When the music starts, taking Ten out of his daze, they smile at the crowd and Ten feels himself ascending into the astral plane at the amount of beauty that Rose exhibits. 

 

The music is soft, Ten doesn’t recognize it at first, but when Rose sings the first line it all hits him like a freight truck.  _ Is this a fucking Lana Del Rey song?  _ Ten listen’s for the second line.  _ Oh my god, okay, this is fine. They’re just singing Yayo by Lana Del Rey. This is completely and totally 100% fine.  _

 

Ten feels like his heart is going to jump out of his chest with how fast it’s beating. The performance is absolutely perfect so far, the crowd is going wild and Rose is thriving off of energy the audience gives. At first, Ten thinks that Rose isn’t going to step off the stage tonight. The song is really mellow and didn’t really call for any spontaneous acts. He was quickly proven wrong once the song was halfway through the second verse. Rose took the mic off of the stand and started to slowly walk towards the stairs on the edge of the stage. The people by the end of the stairs quickly opened up a path for Rose to walk through comfortably, Ten saw as they took someone’s hand and was aided down the stairs. When Rose stepped off the last step, they looked towards their helper and sent them a wink before walking further into the main floor of the club. 

 

When Ten notes that Rose is making their way towards the bar again, he frantically searches for Doyoung (who only winks at him once they make eye contact and motions for Ten to look behind him). Ten quickly turns around and makes eye contact with Rose, the feeling is just as intense as the first time - if not even more electric. Rose is moving in his direction, they begin to sing the chorus with their voice as soft as velvet and a look in their eyes that makes Ten feel like a prey being hunted down. 

 

The person that had been sitting next to Ten immediately gets down once they see Rose eyeing their spot. Ten could not believe that he was lucky enough for this to happen to him again. Rose holds their hand out for Ten, who slowly takes it into his and helps them up and onto the stool next to him. 

 

As the bridge begins, Rose looks right at Ten and doesn’t break the eye contact as every word flows out of their mouth. 

 

“ _ Hello heaven, you are a tunnel lined with yellow lights on a dark night”  _ Rose sings to Ten. Behind the bar, Doyoung is sneakily recorded their interaction for blackmail material later - against the both of them. 

 

Rose flips their hair behind their shoulder and sings the chorus, their eyes scanning across Ten’s form. Although Ten is a performer, and has stood alone in front of a crowd of thousands of people; being put on the spot like this and having so much attention focused on his interaction with Rose leaves him choked up and not knowing what to do. Ten can hear that the song is finishing up, their interaction together was quickly coming to an end and he wanted to make more of it; he wanted to do something to make Rose just as flustered as he was right now. 

 

He ultimately misses his chance to initiate anything once Rose takes the upper hand, even though they never lost their hold on it to begin with. Rose wraps an arm around Ten’s shoulder and brings him in so close their noses nearly touch and sings the last four lines of the song. 

 

_ “Let me put on a show for you daddy, let me put on a show. Let me put on a show for you tiger...let me put on a show” _

 

When the last word of the song leaves Rose’s lips, they pull away and giggle at how Ten follows their movement. They step off of the bar stool and leave Ten with a wink and a coy smile. The crowd is cheering loudly and the people near the bar are all looking at Ten and telling him how lucky he is to be chosen by the Rose in such a way. 

 

Ten turns to Doyoung and sees him with his head thrown back, laughing so hard that he begins to wipe tears away from his eyes. 

 

He doesn’t know how to even begin to describe all the feelings rushing through him, Ten is absolutely floored once again. Their time together lasted less than a minute, but it meant everything to him. As he watched Rose walk away, the high he was on whenever they were near him was wearing off and left Ten desperately craving for more. He felt that no matter how much time they would ever spend together would never be enough to put out the fire in him that was lit up by the way Rose smiled. 

  
  



End file.
